AMD Adds Second Core To Turion Notebook Chip

On Wednesday, Advanced Micro Devices launched a dual-core version of its mobile Turion chip, bringing its brand of dual-core technology to thin-and-light notebooks. In addition, the company said it had begun shipping a mobile Sempron chip, upgraded to include 64-bit capabilities.

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On Wednesday, Advanced Micro Devices launched a dual-core version of its mobile Turion chip, bringing its brand of dual-core technology to thin-and-light notebooks. In addition, the company said it had begun shipping a mobile Sempron chip, upgraded to include 64-bit capabilities.

Both chips will be complemented by a forthcoming "whitebook" logo program, which will provide buyers of notebooks from resellers and second-tier vendors some assurance that the systems have met AMD's standards of quality, and can be considered viable competitors to the top-tier OEM products.

AMD's new AMD Turion 64 X2 models will range in speed from 1.6 to 2.0 GHz, using a series of abstract "model numbers" to indicate performance. Four chips were unveiled: the 1.6-GHz TL-50, the 1.6-GHz TL-52, the 1.8-GHz TL-56 and the 2.0-GHz TL-60, ranging in price from $184 to $354 in 1,000-unit lots. Prices and speeds for the new mobile Semprons were not available at press time.

With the addition of the second core, the Turion 64 X2 is now a more distinct product offering from its cousin, the Sempron, which will remain a single core part, according to David Rooney, a division marketing manager for AMD's mobile division. AMD's Turion 64 X2 will eventually replace the single-core option over the next six to nine months, according to Matt Mazzantini, also a division marketing manager for AMD's mobile products.

Among the enhancements to the Turion X2 include improved power management, support for AMD's Digital Media Xpress instructions, an integrated DDR-2 memory controller, and a new processor package.

Although rival Intel launched its own mobile dual-core part, the Intel Core Duo, into the notebook marketplace in January, AMD executives said that they are optimistic about the Turion X2's chances. OEMs backing the part will include Acer, ASUS, BenQ, Flocity, FSC, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, MSI, NEC, Packard Bell, Sotec and TongFang. Mazzantini said he expects one or two OEMs to ship designs in May, with virtually all of the client list expected to ship notebooks by July.

According to a study by Gartner, AMD's mobile market share rose from a low of about 8 percent in the third quarter of 2004, to a high of just over 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005. In all, the company gained about three percentage points of market share since the first-generation Turion was introduced.

Of all the enhancements to the Turion 64 X2, power management is high on the list, Rooney said.

Power management will actually be the bridge AMD will use to assist customers from the first to the second Turion generation; the whitebook program's logo "will ensure that these whitebook offerings achieve certain thresholds of battery life," he said. Intel has also launched its own validated whitebook program in an effort to sway the reseller market.

Three of the new AMD Turion 64 X2 processors will also be made available through the company's processor-in-a-box (PIB) program, that will ship without a fan to allow OEMs or whitebook suppliers to make their own choice of components. The ability to design a notebook without being encouraged to buy a number of components from the same supplier has also attracted customers, Rooney said. Although AMD has worked with chipset suppliers ATI and Nvidia and wireless vendors like Atheros and Broadcom to come up with reference designs that are tuned for low power, customers are free to choose whatever parts they want, he said.

"I think we're off to a really great start with the single core Turion and we'll draft off that curve to the Turion dual core," Rooney said.

Power is key for new chip

Each Turion 64 X2 core can be powered up or powered down independently, running through one of five power states, from active power down to a "deeper sleep" state where a notebook would sit idly with its top closed. (Intel uses an additional "deep C4" low-power state that AMD's Turion 64 X2 doesn't offer.)

Although AMD quotes a higher active power for the Turion 64 X2 than the Core Duo (31 to 35 watts in active mode, versus 31 watts for Intel's Core Duo) the company claims that in each of the other power states the Turion will consume less power than Intel's chip. Moreover, in battery mode, the Turion 64 X2 will consume 10 watts at 800 MHz, versus 13.1 watts at 1 GHz for the Core Duo. AMD's own estimates also include the on-chip memory controller.

The accompanying HyperTransport bus link can also be powered down when not in use, although company executives have said previously that the power consumed by the HT link is a small fraction of that used by the processor.

The new Turion 64 X2s also use DDR-2 memory, by and large the memory standard used on desktop PCs. The integrated memory controller support memories from PC2-3200 (DDR2-400) up to PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) DIMMs, supplying up to 10.7 Gbytes/s of memory bandwidth. The memory controller is not backwards-compatible with DDR-1 memories, Rooney said.

Both cores are housed within AMD's new S1 package, which is about 23 percent smaller than AMD's previous single-core Turion package, even though both processors are manufactured on a 90-nm process, Rooney said. The extra space will allow notebook board designers additional room to route traces and add additional components, he said.

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